How old is Captain Ahab and what happened to his leg?
Captain Ahab is fifty-eight years old and lost a leg to the white whale Moby Dick. That missing limb is replaced by an ivory prosthetic that doubles as a slate for navigational calculations.
Questions about Captain Ahab
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who wrote Captain Ahab and what influenced the character's creation?
Herman Melville constructed Captain Ahab under the influence of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's lectures on Hamlet. The character emerges from literary theory about how greatness becomes disease rather than any actual captain Melville sailed under.
What happens to Captain Ahab during the final three-day chase in Chapter 119?
Ahab uncovers his whole hate rather than discovering love for fellow wretches and temporarily becomes blind echoing King Lear and Prometheus. His pride mirrors Satan's sense of injured merit and he dies when the line around his neck drags him beneath the sea after Moby Dick dives.
When was the first film adaptation of Captain Ahab released and who starred in it?
The first film adaptation appeared in 1926 as The Sea Beast starring John Barrymore as Ahab Ceeley. This silent movie transformed the character into a handsome young sailor who had little in common with Melville's original.
How has Captain Ahab influenced later works like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan?
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan borrowed heavily from Moby-Dick with Khan liberally paraphrasing Ahab's tirade. Khan quotes Ahab's final lines verbatim stating I'll chase him round the moons of Nibia before giving up.